Augmented reality spatial audio experience

ABSTRACT

Devices, media, and methods are presented for an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience using an eyewear device with spatial audio. The eyewear device has a processor, a memory, and image sensor, and a speaker system. The eyewear device captures image information for an environment surrounding the device and identifies an object location within the same environment. The eyewear device then associates a virtual object with the identified object location. The eyewear device monitors the position of the device with respect to the virtual object and presents audio signals to alert the user that the identified object is in the environment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 63/122,349 filed on Dec. 7, 2020, the contents of which areincorporated fully herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Examples set forth in the present disclosure relate to portableelectronic devices, including wearable devices such as eyewear, havingspatial audio feedback for user entertainment.

BACKGROUND

Many types of computers and electronic devices available today, such asmobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, and laptops), handhelddevices (e.g., smart rings, special-purpose accessories), and wearabledevices (e.g., smart glasses, digital eyewear, headwear, headgear, andhead-mounted displays), include a variety of sensors, wirelesstransceivers, input systems (e.g., touch-sensitive surfaces, pointers),peripheral devices, and output devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the various examples described will be readily understoodfrom the following detailed description, in which reference is made tothe figures. A reference numeral is used with each element in thedescription and throughout the several views of the drawing. When aplurality of similar elements is present, a single reference numeral maybe assigned to like elements, with an added lower-case letter referringto a specific element.

The various elements shown in the figures are not drawn to scale unlessotherwise indicated. The dimensions of the various elements may beenlarged or reduced in the interest of clarity. The several figuresdepict one or more non-limiting examples. Included in the drawing arethe following figures:

FIG. 1A is a side view (right) of an example hardware configuration ofan eyewear device suitable for use in an augmented reality system;

FIG. 1B is a top, partly sectional view of a right corner of the eyeweardevice of FIG. 1A depicting a right visible-light camera, and a circuitboard;

FIG. 1C is a side view (left) of an example hardware configuration ofthe eyewear device of FIG. 1A, which shows a left visible-light camera;

FIG. 1D is a top, partly sectional view of a left corner of the eyeweardevice of FIG. 1C depicting the left visible-light camera, and a circuitboard;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are rear views of example hardware configurations of aneyewear device utilized in an augmented reality system;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic depiction of a three-dimensional scene, a leftraw image captured by a left visible-light camera, and a right raw imagecaptured by a right visible-light camera;

FIG. 4A is a functional block diagram of an example augmented realitysystem including a wearable device (e.g., an eyewear device), anotherelectronic device, and a server system connected via various networks;

FIG. 4B is a flow diagram of an aspect of an augmented reality system;

FIG. 4C is a functional block diagram of a “smart component” for use inone example of the augmented reality system;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of an example hardwareconfiguration for a mobile device of the augmented reality system ofFIG. 4A;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are illustrations for use is describing natural featuretracking, simultaneous localization and mapping, and spatial audio;

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, and 7F are flowcharts of an example method forproviding a physical output that varies as the position of the eyeweardevice changes;

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C are illustrations depicting an example use of theeyewear device.

FIG. 9 is an example graphical user interface for use in testing thedirectional audio associated with virtual objects; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective illustration of a virtual object presented on adisplay of an eyewear device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Examples of devices, methods, and media are presented for an immersiveAR experience using an eyewear device with spatial audio. The eyeweardevice has a processor, a memory, and image sensor, and a speakersystem. The eyewear device captures image information for an environmentsurrounding the device and identifies an object location within the sameenvironment. The eyewear device then associates a virtual object withthe identified object location. The eyewear device monitors the positionof the device with respect to the virtual object and presents audiosignals to alert the user that the identified object is in theenvironment.

The following detailed description includes systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine programproducts illustrative of examples set forth in the disclosure. Numerousdetails and examples are included for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter and its relevantteachings. Those skilled in the relevant art, however, may understandhow to apply the relevant teachings without such details. Aspects of thedisclosed subject matter are not limited to the specific devices,systems, and method described because the relevant teachings can beapplied or practice in a variety of ways. The terminology andnomenclature used herein is for the purpose of describing particularaspects only and is not intended to be limiting. In general, well-knowninstruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques are notnecessarily shown in detail.

The term “coupled” or “connected” as used herein refers to any logical,optical, physical, or electrical connection, including a link or thelike by which the electrical or magnetic signals produced or supplied byone system element are imparted to another coupled or connected systemelement. Unless described otherwise, coupled or connected elements ordevices are not necessarily directly connected to one another and may beseparated by intermediate components, elements, or communication media,one or more of which may modify, manipulate, or carry the electricalsignals. The term “on” means directly supported by an element orindirectly supported by the element through another element integratedinto or supported by the element.

The orientations of the eyewear device, the handheld device, associatedcomponents and any other complete devices incorporating a camera and/oran inertial measurement unit such as shown in any of the drawings, aregiven by way of example only, for illustration and discussion purposes.In operation, the eyewear device may be oriented in any other directionsuitable to the particular application of the eyewear device; forexample, up, down, sideways, or any other orientation. Also, to theextent used herein, any directional term, such as front, rear, inward,outward, toward, left, right, lateral, longitudinal, up, down, upper,lower, top, bottom, side, horizontal, vertical, and diagonal are used byway of example only, and are not limiting as to the direction ororientation of any camera and/or inertial measurement unit asconstructed as otherwise described herein.

Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the examples willbe set forth in part in the following description, and in part willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by productionor operation of the examples. The objects and advantages of the presentsubject matter may be realized and attained by means of themethodologies, instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointedout in the appended claims. Reference now is made in detail to theexamples illustrated in the accompanying drawings and discussed below.

FIG. 1A is a side view (right) of an example hardware configuration ofan eyewear device 100 which includes a touch-sensitive input device ortouchpad 181. As shown, the touchpad 181 may have a boundary that issubtle and not easily seen; alternatively, the boundary may be plainlyvisible and/or include a raised or otherwise tactile edge that providesfeedback to the user about the location and boundary of the touchpad181. In other examples, the eyewear 100 may include a touchpad on theleft side.

The surface of the touchpad 181 is configured to detect finger touches,taps, and gestures (e.g., moving touches) for use with a GUI displayedby the eyewear, on an image display, to allow the user to navigatethrough and select menu options in an intuitive manner, which enhancesand simplifies the user experience.

Detection of finger inputs on the touchpad 181 can enable severalfunctions. For example, touching anywhere on the touchpad 181 may causethe GUI to display and/or highlight an item on the image display, whichmay be projected onto at least one of the optical assemblies 180A, 180B.Double tapping on the touchpad 181 may select an item or icon. Slidingor swiping a finger in a particular direction (e.g., from front to back,back to front, up to down, or down to) may cause the items or icons toslide or scroll in a particular direction; for example, to move to anext item, icon, video, image, page, or slide. Sliding the finger inanother direction may slide or scroll in the opposite direction; forexample, to move to a previous item, icon, video, image, page, or slide.The touchpad 181 can be virtually anywhere on the eyewear device 100.

In one example, an identified finger gesture of a single tap on thetouchpad 181, initiates selection or pressing of a graphical userinterface element in the image presented on the image display of theoptical assembly 180A, 180B. An adjustment to the image presented on theimage display of the optical assembly 180A, 180B based on the identifiedfinger gesture can be a primary action which selects or submits thegraphical user interface element on the image display of the opticalassembly 180A, 180B for further display or execution.

As shown, the eyewear device 100 includes a right visible-light camera114B. As further described herein, two cameras 114A, 114B capture imageinformation for a scene from two separate viewpoints. The two capturedimages may be used to project a three-dimensional display onto an imagedisplay for viewing with 3D glasses.

Additionally, the eyewear device 100 includes at least two speakers,e.g., one or more speakers on a left side of the eyewear device 100(left speakers 191A and 191C) and one or more speakers on a right sideof the eyewear device 100 (a right speakers 191B and 191D, forpresenting audio signals to a left ear and a right ear of a wearer,respectively. An audio processor 413 (FIG. 4 ) of the stereo speakersystem delivers audio signals to the speakers 191. The speakers 191 maybe incorporated into the frame 105, temples 125, or corners 110 of theeyewear device 100. The speakers 191 are driven by audio processor 413under control of low-power circuitry 420, high-speed circuitry 430, orboth. The speakers 191 are for presenting audio signals including, forexample, an audio track associated with a virtual object or virtualobject theme. The audio processor 413 is coupled to the speakers 191 inorder to control the presentation of sound (e.g., in accordance withhead-related transfer function, head-related transfer function (HRTF),modeling) to provide acoustical position information corresponding tothe location of virtual objects presented on the image displays ofoptical assemblies 180A-B. Audio processor 413 may be any processorcapable of managing audio processing needed for eyewear device 100(e.g., capable of HRTF modeling). In one example, the eyewear device 100includes a left front speaker 191A, a right front speaker 191B, a leftrear speaker 191C, and a right rear speaker 191D. The speakers 191 arepositioned at various locations around the eyewear 100 to presentdirectional audio zones for guiding a user wearing the eyewear device100. For example, presenting an audio signal from both rear speakers191C, D generates a rear directional audio zone indicating a virtualobject is behind the wearer, presenting an audio signal from the rightrear speakers 191D generates a right-rear directional audio zoneindicating a virtual object is behind the wearer to the right, andpresenting an audio signal from right front speaker 191B and the rightrear speaker 191D generates a right side directional audio zoneindicating a virtual object is to the right of the wearer. Volume of theaudio signal may be adjusted to indicate proximity to an object with thevolume increasing as the wear gets closer to the object. Additionally,relative volume among speakers may be set to provide more zones. Forexample, presenting an audio signal from the right front speaker 191Band the right rear speaker 191D where the volume is louder from rightrear speaker generates a right side and back directional audio zoneindicating a virtual object is to the right and back of the wearer, butnot as far behind the wearer as when the signal is only presented by theright rear speaker 191D. In another example, the eyewear device 100includes a left front speaker 191A adjacent the left ear and a rightfront speaker 191B adjacent the right ear. In accordance with thisexample, the audio processor applies HRTF modeling to the audio signalsin order to provide directional information with the two speakers.

The eyewear device 100 includes a right optical assembly 180B with animage display to present images, such as depth images. As shown in FIGS.1A and 1 , the eyewear device 100 includes the right visible-lightcamera 114B. The eyewear device 100 can include multiple visible-lightcameras 114A, 114B that form a passive type of three-dimensional camera,such as stereo camera, of which the right visible-light camera 114B islocated on a right corner 110B. As shown in FIGS. 1C-D, the eyeweardevice 100 also includes a left visible-light camera 114A.

Left and right visible-light cameras 114A, 114B are sensitive to thevisible-light range wavelength. Each of the visible-light cameras 114A,114B have a different frontward facing field of view which areoverlapping to enable generation of three-dimensional depth images, forexample, right visible-light camera 114B depicts a right field of view111B. Generally, a “field of view” is the part of the scene that isvisible through the camera at a particular position and orientation inspace. The fields of view 111A and 111B have an overlapping field ofview 304 (FIG. 3 ). Objects or object features outside the field of view111A, 111B when the visible-light camera captures the image are notrecorded in a raw image (e.g., photograph or picture). The field of viewdescribes an angle range or extent, which the image sensor of thevisible-light camera 114A, 114B picks up electromagnetic radiation of agiven scene in a captured image of the given scene. Field of view can beexpressed as the angular size of the view cone, i.e., an angle of view.The angle of view can be measured horizontally, vertically, ordiagonally.

In an example, visible-light cameras 114A, 114B have a field of viewwith an angle of view between 15° to 110°, for example 24°, and have aresolution of 480×480 pixels or greater. The “angle of coverage”describes the angle range that a lens of visible-light cameras 114A,114B or infrared camera 410 (see FIG. 4A) can effectively image.Typically, the camera lens produces an image circle that is large enoughto cover the film or sensor of the camera completely, possibly includingsome vignetting (e.g., a darkening of the image toward the edges whencompared to the center). If the angle of coverage of the camera lensdoes not fill the sensor, the image circle will be visible, typicallywith strong vignetting toward the edge, and the effective angle of viewwill be limited to the angle of coverage.

Examples of such visible-light cameras 114A, 114B include ahigh-resolution complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) imagesensor and a digital VGA camera (video graphics array) capable ofresolutions of 640p (e.g., 640×480 pixels for a total of 0.3megapixels), 720p, or 1080p. Other examples of visible-light cameras114A, 114B that can capture high-definition (HD) still images and storethem at a resolution of 1642 by 1642 pixels (or greater); and/or recordhigh-definition video at a high frame rate (e.g., thirty to sixty framesper second or more) and store the recording at a resolution of 1216 by1216 pixels (or greater).

The eyewear device 100 may capture image sensor data from thevisible-light cameras 114A, 114B along with geolocation data, digitizedby an image processor, for storage in a memory. The visible-lightcameras 114A, 114B capture respective left and right raw images in thetwo-dimensional space domain that comprise a matrix of pixels on atwo-dimensional coordinate system that includes an X-axis for horizontalposition and a Y-axis for vertical position. Each pixel includes a colorattribute value (e.g., a red pixel light value, a green pixel lightvalue, and/or a blue pixel light value); and a position attribute (e.g.,an X-axis coordinate and a Y-axis coordinate).

In order to capture stereo images for later display as athree-dimensional projection, the image processor 412 (shown in FIG. 4A)may be coupled to the visible-light cameras 114A, 114B to receive andstore the visual image information. The image processor 412 or anotherprocessor, which controls operation of the visible-light cameras 114A,114B to act as a stereo camera simulating human binocular vision, mayadd a timestamp to each image. The timestamp on each pair of imagesallows display of the images together as part of a three-dimensionalprojection. Three-dimensional projections produce an immersive,life-like experience that is desirable in a variety of contexts,including virtual reality (VR) and video gaming.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic depiction of a three-dimensional scene 306, aleft raw image 302A captured by a left visible-light camera 114A, and aright raw image 302B captured by a right visible-light camera 114B. Theleft field of view 111A may overlap, as shown, with the right field ofview 111B. The overlapping field of view 304 represents that portion ofthe image captured by both cameras 114A, 114B. The term ‘overlapping’when referring to field of view means the matrix of pixels in thegenerated raw images overlap by thirty percent (30%) or more.‘Substantially overlapping’ means the matrix of pixels in the generatedraw images—or in the infrared image of scene—overlap by fifty percent(50%) or more. As described herein, the two raw images 302A, 302B may beprocessed to include a timestamp, which allows the images to bedisplayed together as part of a three-dimensional projection.

For the capture of stereo images, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , a pair ofraw red, green, and blue (RGB) images are captured of a real scene 306at a given moment in time—a left raw image 302A captured by the leftcamera 114A and right raw image 302B captured by the right camera 114B.When the pair of raw images 302A, 302B are processed (e.g., by the imageprocessor 412), depth images are generated. The generated depth imagesmay be viewed on an optical assembly 180A, 180B of an eyewear device, onanother display (e.g., the image display 580 on a mobile device 401), oron a screen.

The generated depth images are in the three-dimensional space domain andcan comprise a matrix of vertices on a three-dimensional locationcoordinate system that includes an X axis for horizontal position (e.g.,length), a Y axis for vertical position (e.g., height), and a Z axis fordepth (e.g., distance). Each vertex may include a color attribute (e.g.,a red pixel light value, a green pixel light value, and/or a blue pixellight value); a position attribute (e.g., an X location coordinate, a Ylocation coordinate, and a Z location coordinate); a texture attributeand/or a reflectance attribute. The texture attribute quantifies theperceived texture of the depth image, such as the spatial arrangement ofcolor or intensities in a region of vertices of the depth image.

In one example, the eyewear device 100 includes a frame 105, a lefttemple 110A extending from a left lateral side 170A of the frame 105,and a right temple 125B extending from a right lateral side 170B of theframe 105. The left camera 114A is connected to the frame 105, the lefttemple 125B, or the left corner 110A to capture a left raw image 302Afrom the left side of scene 306. The right camera 114B is connected tothe frame 105, the right corner 110A, or the right temple 125B tocapture a right raw image 302B from the right side of scene 306.

The left temple 110A has a proximal end adjacent a first side of theframe 105 and a distal end. The right temple 110B has a proximal endadjacent a second side of the frame 105 and a distal end. The left frontspeaker 191 a is positioned adjacent the proximal end of the left temple110A (e.g., on the left temple 110A, on the first/left side of the frame105, or on the left corner 110A as illustrated). The right front speaker191 b is positioned adjacent the proximal end of the right temple 110B(e.g., on the right temple 110B, on the second/right side of the frame105, or on the right corner 110B as illustrated). The left rear speaker191 c is positioned adjacent the distal end of the left temple 110A(e.g., on the left temple 110A as illustrated). The right rear speaker191 d is positioned adjacent the distal end of the right temple 110B(e.g., on the right temple 110B as illustrated).

FIG. 1B is a top cross-sectional view of a right corner 110B of theeyewear device 100 of FIG. 1A depicting the right visible-light camera114B of the camera system, and a circuit board. FIG. 1C is a side view(left) of an example hardware configuration of an eyewear device 100 ofFIG. 1A, which shows a left visible-light camera 114A of the camerasystem. FIG. 1D is a top cross-sectional view of a left corner 110A ofthe eyewear device of FIG. 1C depicting the left visible-light camera114A of the three-dimensional camera, and a circuit board. Constructionand placement of the left visible-light camera 114A is substantiallysimilar to the right visible-light camera 114B, except the connectionsand coupling are on the left lateral side 170A. As shown in the exampleof FIG. 1B, the eyewear device 100 includes the right visible-lightcamera 114B and a circuit board 140B, which may be a flexible printedcircuit board (PCB). The right hinge 126B connects the right corner 110Bto a right temple 125B of the eyewear device 100. In some examples,components of the right visible-light camera 114B, the flexible PCB140B, or other electrical connectors or contacts may be located on theright temple 125B or the right hinge 126B.

The right corner 110B includes corner body 190 and a corner cap, withthe corner cap omitted in the cross-section of FIG. 1B. Disposed insidethe right corner 110B are various interconnected circuit boards, such asPCBs or flexible PCBs, that include controller circuits for rightvisible-light camera 114B, microphone(s), low-power wireless circuitry(e.g., for wireless short range network communication via Bluetooth™),high-speed wireless circuitry (e.g., for wireless local area networkcommunication via WiFi).

The right visible-light camera 114B is coupled to or disposed on theflexible PCB 140B and covered by a visible-light camera cover lens,which is aimed through opening(s) formed in the frame 105. For example,the right rim 107B of the frame 105, shown in FIG. 2A, is connected tothe right corner 110B and includes the opening(s) for the visible-lightcamera cover lens. The frame 105 includes a front side configured toface outward and away from the eye of the user. The opening for thevisible-light camera cover lens is formed on and through the front oroutward-facing side of the frame 105. In the example, the rightvisible-light camera 114B has an outward-facing field of view 111B(shown in FIG. 3 ) with a line of sight or perspective that iscorrelated with the right eye of the user of the eyewear device 100. Thevisible-light camera cover lens can also be adhered to a front side oroutward-facing surface of the right corner 110B in which an opening isformed with an outward-facing angle of coverage, but in a differentoutwardly direction. The coupling can also be indirect via interveningcomponents.

As shown in FIG. 1B, flexible PCB 140B is disposed inside the rightcorner 110B and is coupled to one or more other components housed in theright corner 110B. Although shown as being formed on the circuit boardsof the right corner 110B, the right visible-light camera 114B can beformed on the circuit boards of the left corner 110A, the temples 125A,125B, or the frame 105.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views, from the rear, of examplehardware configurations of the eyewear device 100, including twodifferent types of image displays. The eyewear device 100 is sized andshaped in a form configured for wearing by a user; the form ofeyeglasses is shown in the example. The eyewear device 100 can takeother forms and may incorporate other types of frameworks; for example,a headgear, a headset, or a helmet.

In the eyeglasses example, eyewear device 100 includes a frame 105including a left rim 107A connected to a right rim 107B via a bridge 106adapted to be supported by a nose of the user. The left and right rims107A, 107B include respective apertures 175A, 175B, which hold arespective optical element 180A, 180B, such as a lens and a displaydevice. As used herein, the term “lens” is meant to include transparentor translucent pieces of glass or plastic having curved and/or flatsurfaces that cause light to converge/diverge or that cause little or noconvergence or divergence.

Although shown as having two optical elements 180A, 180B, the eyeweardevice 100 can include other arrangements, such as a single opticalelement (or it may not include any optical element 180A, 180B),depending on the application or the intended user of the eyewear device100. As further shown, eyewear device 100 includes a left corner 110Aadjacent the left lateral side 170A of the frame 105 and a right corner110B adjacent the right lateral side 170B of the frame 105. The corners110A, 110B may be integrated into the frame 105 on the respective sides170A, 170B (as illustrated) or implemented as separate componentsattached to the frame 105 on the respective sides 170A, 170B.Alternatively, the corners 110A, 110B may be integrated into temples(not shown) attached to the frame 105.

In one example, the image display of optical assembly 180A, 180Bincludes an integrated image display. As shown in FIG. 2A, each opticalassembly 180A, 180B includes a suitable display matrix 177, such as aliquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED)display, or any other such display. Each optical assembly 180A, 180Balso includes an optical layer or layers 176, which can include lenses,optical coatings, prisms, mirrors, waveguides, optical strips, and otheroptical components in any combination. The optical layers 176A, 176B, .. . 176N (shown as 176A-N in FIG. 2A and herein) can include a prismhaving a suitable size and configuration and including a first surfacefor receiving light from a display matrix and a second surface foremitting light to the eye of the user. The prism of the optical layers176A-N extends over all or at least a portion of the respectiveapertures 175A, 175B formed in the left and right rims 107A, 107B topermit the user to see the second surface of the prism when the eye ofthe user is viewing through the corresponding left and right rims 107A,107B. The first surface of the prism of the optical layers 176A-N facesupwardly from the frame 105 and the display matrix 177 overlies theprism so that photons and light emitted by the display matrix 177impinge the first surface. The prism is sized and shaped so that thelight is refracted within the prism and is directed toward the eye ofthe user by the second surface of the prism of the optical layers176A-N. In this regard, the second surface of the prism of the opticallayers 176A-N can be convex to direct the light toward the center of theeye. The prism can optionally be sized and shaped to magnify the imageprojected by the display matrix 177, and the light travels through theprism so that the image viewed from the second surface is larger in oneor more dimensions than the image emitted from the display matrix 177.

In one example, the optical layers 176A-N may include an LCD layer thatis transparent (keeping the lens open) unless and until a voltage isapplied which makes the layer opaque (closing or blocking the lens). Theimage processor 412 on the eyewear device 100 may execute programming toapply the voltage to the LCD layer in order to produce an active shuttersystem, making the eyewear device 100 suitable for viewing visualcontent when displayed as a three-dimensional projection. Technologiesother than LCD may be used for the active shutter mode, including othertypes of reactive layers that are responsive to a voltage or anothertype of input.

In another example, the image display device of optical assembly 180A,180B includes a projection image display as shown in FIG. 2B. Eachoptical assembly 180A, 180B includes a laser projector 150, which is athree-color laser projector using a scanning mirror or galvanometer.During operation, an optical source such as a laser projector 150 isdisposed in or on one of the temples 125A, 125B of the eyewear device100. Optical assembly 180B in this example includes one or more opticalstrips 155A, 155B, . . . 155N (shown as 155A-N in FIG. 2B) which arespaced apart and across the width of the lens of each optical assembly180A, 180B and/or across a depth of the lens between the front surfaceand the rear surface of the lens.

As the photons projected by the laser projector 150 travel across thelens of each optical assembly 180A, 180B, the photons encounter theoptical strips 155A-N. When a particular photon encounters a particularoptical strip, the photon is either redirected toward the user's eye, orit passes to the next optical strip. A combination of modulation oflaser projector 150, and modulation of optical strips, may controlspecific photons or beams of light. In an example, a processor controlsoptical strips 155A-N by initiating mechanical, acoustic, orelectromagnetic signals. Although shown as having two optical assemblies180A, 180B, the eyewear device 100 can include other arrangements, suchas a single or three optical assemblies, or each optical assembly 180A,180B may have arranged different arrangement depending on theapplication or intended user of the eyewear device 100.

As further shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, eyewear device 100 includes a leftcorner 110A adjacent the left lateral side 170A of the frame 105 and aright corner 110B adjacent the right lateral side 170B of the frame 105.The corners 110A, 110B may be integrated into the frame 105 on therespective lateral sides 170A, 170B (as illustrated) or implemented asseparate components attached to the frame 105 on the respective sides170A, 170B. Alternatively, the corners 110A, 110B may be integrated intotemples 125A, 125B attached to the frame 105.

In another example, the eyewear device 100 shown in FIG. 2B may includetwo projectors, a left projector 150A (not shown) and a right projector150B (shown as projector 150). The left optical assembly 180A mayinclude a left display matrix 177A (not shown) and/or a left set ofoptical strips 155′A, 155′B, . . . 155′N (155 prime, A through N, notshown) which are configured to interact with light from the leftprojector 150A. Similarly, the right optical assembly 180B may include aright display matrix 177B (not shown) and/or a right set of opticalstrips 155″A, 155″B, . . . 155″N (155 double-prime, A through N, notshown) which are configured to interact with light from the rightprojector 150B. In this example, the eyewear device 100 includes a leftdisplay and a right display.

FIG. 4A is a functional block diagram of an example augmented realitysystem 400 including a wearable device (e.g., an eyewear device 100),another electronic device 402, a mobile device 401, and a server system498 connected via various networks 495 such as the Internet. The system400 includes a low-power wireless connection 425 and a high-speedwireless connection 437 between the eyewear device 100 and a mobiledevice 401—and, in some examples, as shown, between the eyewear device100 and the other electronic device 402. The augmented reality system400 additionally includes speakers 191 a-d on the eyewear device 100 forguiding a user. The speakers 191 a-d may be controlled directly viaprocessor 432 or indirectly via an audio processor (not shown).

In one example, the other electronic device 402 is a remote device thatmay be a “smart device” (also referred to as an IoT device) including apower supply 652 (separate from that of the eyewear device), amicrocontroller 656 or processor, a high-speed network connection 654, amemory 658, and physical output devices 662 (such as, for example,illumination sources, airflow sources, etc.) (shown in FIG. 4C).

As shown in FIG. 4A, the eyewear device 100 includes one or morevisible-light cameras 114A, 114B that capture still images and/or video,as described herein. The cameras 114A, 114B may have a direct memoryaccess (DMA) to high-speed circuitry 430 and function as a stereocamera. The cameras 114A, 114B may be used to capture initial-depthimages for rendering three-dimensional (3D) models that aretexture-mapped images of a red, green, and blue (RGB) imaged scene. Thedevice 100 may also include a depth sensor, which uses infrared signalsto estimate the position of objects relative to the device 100. Thedepth sensor in some examples includes one or more infrared emitter(s)415 and infrared camera(s) 410. The cameras and the depth sensor arenon-limiting examples of sensors in the eyewear device 100.

The eyewear device 100 further includes two image displays of eachoptical assembly 180A, 180B (one associated with the left side 170A andone associated with the right side 170B). The eyewear device 100 alsoincludes an image display driver 442, an image processor 412, low-powercircuitry 420, and high-speed circuitry 430. The image displays of eachoptical assembly 180A, 180B are for presenting images, including stillimages and/or video. The image display driver 442 is coupled to theimage displays of each optical assembly 180A, 180B in order to controlthe display of images.

The components shown in FIG. 4A for the eyewear device 100 are locatedon one or more circuit boards, for example, a printed circuit board(PCB) or flexible printed circuit (FPC), located in the rims or temples.Alternatively, or additionally, the depicted components can be locatedin the corners, frames, hinges, or bridge of the eyewear device 100.Left and right visible-light cameras 114A, 114B can include digitalcamera elements such as a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)image sensor, a charge-coupled device, a lens, or any other respectivevisible or light capturing elements that may be used to capture data,including still images or video of scenes with unknown objects.

As shown in FIG. 4A, high-speed circuitry 430 includes a high-speedprocessor 432, a memory 434, and high-speed wireless circuitry 436. Inthe example, the image display driver 442 is coupled to the high-speedcircuitry 430 and operated by the high-speed processor 432 in order todrive the left and right image displays of each optical assembly 180A,180B. High-speed processor 432 may be any processor capable of managinghigh-speed communications and operation of any general computing systemneeded for eyewear device 100. High-speed processor 432 includesprocessing resources needed for managing high-speed data transfers onhigh-speed wireless connection 437 to a wireless local area network(WLAN) using high-speed wireless circuitry 436.

In some examples, the high-speed processor 432 executes an operatingsystem such as a LINUX operating system or other such operating systemof the eyewear device 100 and the operating system is stored in memory434 for execution. In addition to any other responsibilities, thehigh-speed processor 432 executes a software architecture for theeyewear device 100 that is used to manage data transfers with high-speedwireless circuitry 436. In some examples, high-speed wireless circuitry436 is configured to implement Institute of Electrical and ElectronicEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 communication standards, also referred to hereinas Wi-Fi. In other examples, other high-speed communications standardsmay be implemented by high-speed wireless circuitry 436.

The low-power circuitry 420 includes a low-power processor 422 andlow-power wireless circuitry 424. The low-power wireless circuitry 424and the high-speed wireless circuitry 436 of the eyewear device 100 caninclude short-range transceivers (Bluetooth™ or Bluetooth Low-Energy(BLE)) and wireless wide, local, or wide-area network transceivers(e.g., cellular or WiFi). Mobile device 401, including the transceiverscommunicating via the low-power wireless connection 425 and thehigh-speed wireless connection 437, may be implemented using details ofthe architecture of the eyewear device 100, as can other elements of thenetwork 495.

Memory 434 includes any storage device capable of storing various dataand applications, including, among other things, camera data generatedby the left and right visible-light cameras 114A, 114B, the infraredcamera(s) 410, the image processor 412, and images generated for displayby the image display driver 442 on the image display of each opticalassembly 180A, 180B. Although the memory 434 is shown as integrated withhigh-speed circuitry 430, the memory 434 in other examples may be anindependent, standalone element of the eyewear device 100. In certainsuch examples, electrical routing lines may provide a connection througha chip that includes the high-speed processor 432 from the imageprocessor 412 or low-power processor 422 to the memory 434. In otherexamples, the high-speed processor 432 may manage addressing of memory434 such that the low-power processor 422 will boot the high-speedprocessor 432 any time that a read or write operation involving memory434 is needed.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the high-speed processor 432 of the eyewear device100 can be coupled to the camera system (visible-light cameras 114A,114B), the image display driver 442, the user input device 491, and thememory 434. As shown in FIG. 5 , the CPU 530 of the mobile device 401may be coupled to a camera system 570, a mobile display driver 582, auser input layer 591, and a memory 540A.

The server system 498 may be one or more computing devices as part of aservice or network computing system, for example, that include aprocessor, a memory, and network communication interface to communicateover the network 495 with an eyewear device 100 and a mobile device 401.

The output components of the eyewear device 100 include visual elements,such as the left and right image displays associated with each lens oroptical assembly 180A, 180B as described in FIGS. 2A and 2B (e.g., adisplay such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel(PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a projector, or awaveguide). The image displays may each have a display area thatcorresponds to the field of view obtained by the camera(s) 114.

The eyewear device 100 may include a user-facing indicator (e.g., anLED, a loudspeaker, or a vibrating actuator), and/or an outward-facingsignal (e.g., an LED, a loudspeaker). The image displays of each opticalassembly 180A, 180B are driven by the image display driver 442. In someexample configurations, the output components of the eyewear device 100further include additional indicators such as audible elements (e.g.,loudspeakers), tactile components (e.g., an actuator such as a vibratorymotor to generate haptic feedback), and other signal generators. Forexample, the device 100 may include a user-facing set of indicators, andan outward-facing set of signals. The user-facing set of indicators areconfigured to be seen or otherwise sensed by the user of the device 100.For example, the device 100 may include an LED display positioned so theuser can see it, one or more speakers positioned to generate a sound theuser can hear, or an actuator to provide haptic feedback the user canfeel. The outward-facing set of signals are configured to be seen orotherwise sensed by an observer near the device 100. Similarly, thedevice 100 may include an LED, a loudspeaker, or an actuator that isconfigured and positioned to be sensed by an observer.

The input components of the eyewear device 100 may include alphanumericinput components (e.g., a touch screen or touchpad configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or otheralphanumeric-configured elements), pointer-based input components (e.g.,a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or otherpointing instruments), tactile input components (e.g., a button switch,a touch screen or touchpad that senses the location, force or locationand force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile-configuredelements), visual input (e.g., hand gestures captured via cameras114A-B), and audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like.The mobile device 401 and the server system 498 may includealphanumeric, pointer-based, tactile, audio, visual, and other inputcomponents.

In some examples, the eyewear device 100 includes a collection ofmotion-sensing components referred to as an inertial measurement unit472. The motion-sensing components may be micro-electro-mechanicalsystems (MEMS) with microscopic moving parts, often small enough to bepart of a microchip. The inertial measurement unit (IMU) 472 in someexample configurations includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and amagnetometer. The accelerometer senses the linear acceleration of thedevice 100 (including the acceleration due to gravity) relative to threeorthogonal axes (x, y, z). The gyroscope senses the angular velocity ofthe device 100 about three axes of rotation (pitch, roll, yaw).Together, the accelerometer and gyroscope can provide position,orientation, and motion data about the device relative to six axes (x,y, z, pitch, roll, yaw). The magnetometer, if present, senses theheading of the device 100 relative to magnetic north. Additionally, oralternatively, the position of the eyewear device 100 may be determinedby comparing images captured by, for example, cameras 114 and comparingthose images to previously captured images having known positionalinformation. Thus, the position of the device 100 may be determined bylocation sensors, such as image information gathered by cameras 114, aGPS receiver, one or more transceivers to generate relative positioncoordinates, altitude sensors or barometers, and/or other orientationsensors. Such positioning system coordinates can also be received overthe wireless connections 425, 437 from the mobile device 401 via thelow-power wireless circuitry 424 or the high-speed wireless circuitry436.

The IMU 472 may include or cooperate with a digital motion processor orprogramming that gathers the raw data from the components and compute anumber of useful values about the position, orientation, and motion ofthe device 100. For example, the acceleration data gathered from theaccelerometer can be integrated to obtain the velocity relative to eachaxis (x, y, z); and integrated again to obtain the position of thedevice 100 (in linear coordinates, x, y, and z). The angular velocitydata from the gyroscope can be integrated to obtain the position of thedevice 100 (in spherical coordinates). The programming for computingthese useful values may be stored in memory 434 and executed by thehigh-speed processor 432 of the eyewear device 100.

The eyewear device 100 may optionally include additional peripheralsensors, such as biometric sensors, specialty sensors, or displayelements integrated with eyewear device 100. For example, peripheraldevice elements may include any I/O components including outputcomponents, motion components, position components, or any other suchelements described herein. For example, the biometric sensors mayinclude components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), tomeasure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), or to identify a person (e.g.,identification based on voice, retina, facial characteristics,fingerprints, or electrical biosignals such as electroencephalogramdata), and the like.

The mobile device 401 may be a smartphone, tablet, laptop computer,access point, or any other such device capable of connecting witheyewear device 100 using both a low-power wireless connection 425 and ahigh-speed wireless connection 437. Mobile device 401 is connected toserver system 498 and network 495. The network 495 may include anycombination of wired and wireless connections.

The memory 434, in some example implementations, includes a hand gesturelibrary 480. The library of hand gestures 480 includes poses andgestures, with the hand in various positions and orientations. Thestored poses and gestures are suitable for comparison to a hand shapethat is detected in an image. The library 480 includes three-dimensionalcoordinates for landmarks of the hand, e.g., from the wrist to thefingertips, for use in matching. For example, a hand gesture recordstored in the library 480 may include a hand gesture identifier (e.g.,pointing finger, closed fist, open palm, relaxed hand, grasping anobject, pinching, spreading), a point of view or a directional reference(e.g., palmar side visible, dorsal, lateral), and other informationabout orientation, along with three-dimensional coordinates for thewrist, the fifteen interphalangeal joints, the five fingertips and otherskeletal or soft-tissue landmarks. The process of detecting a handshape, in some implementations, involves comparing the pixel-level datain one or more captured frames of video data to the hand gestures storedin the library 480 until a match is found, e.g., by applying a machinevision algorithm. A match may be determined when a predefined confidencethreshold set in the machine vision algorithm is exceeded.

The memory 434 additionally includes, in some example implementations,audio filters 481, a virtual object database 482, a virtual objectprocessing system 484, an audio zone detection system 486, and an audioprocession system 488. The virtual object database 482 includesinformation associated with virtual objects. In one example, the virtualobject database 482 includes audio information (e.g., an audio track)and visual information (e.g., images for creating appearance).

The virtual object processing system 484 generates instructions forpresenting virtual objects on the image display of optical assembly180A-B and controlling movement of the virtual objects. The virtualobject processing system 484 additionally calculates informationassociated with the virtual object such as its position, directionalvelocity, and distance with respect to the user. The audio zonedetection system 486, generates instructions for detecting which zonethe virtual object is currently in with respect to the head of a user.In one example the audio zone detection system 484 maintains a map (seeFIG. 8A) representing the zones surrounding a head of a user for use inzone detection. The audio processing system 488 generates instructionsfor applying HRTF filters to the audio tracks of the virtual objectsresponsive to their current position and presenting sound to the uservia audio processor 413 and speakers 191.

The memory 434 may additionally include an image capture application, alocalization system, and an image processing system. Where a camera ofeyewear device 100 is capturing frames of video data, the image captureapplication configures the processor 432 to detect a hand shape (e.g., apointing index finger). The localization system configures the processor432 to obtain localization data for use in determining the position ofthe eyewear device 100 relative to the physical environment. Thelocalization data may be derived from a series of images, an IMU 472, aGPS unit, or a combination thereof. The image processing systemconfigures the processor 432 to present a captured still image on adisplay of an optical assembly 180A-B in cooperation with the imagedisplay driver 442 and the image processor 412.

In some examples, the devices 100, 401, 402 illustrated in FIG. 4A areconfigured to cooperate and share the processing demand when performingany of the functions described herein. For example, the other electronicdevice 402, may be configured to detect an interaction, such as awireless signal from the device 100, and process the interaction todetermine relative proximity. If within a predefined range, theelectronic device 402 sends an application programming interface (API)to the eyewear device 100, at which point the eyewear device 100 takesover the task of performing additional functions. Additional functionsmay also be performed by the mobile device 401. In this aspect, theaugmented reality system 400 distributes, shares, and manages theprocessing demand such that the functions described herein are performedefficiently and effectively.

The augmented reality system 400, as shown in FIG. 4A, includes acomputing device, such as mobile device 401, coupled to an eyeweardevice 100 and another remote electronic device 402 over a network. Theaugmented reality system 400 includes a memory for storing instructionsand a processor for executing the instructions. Execution of theinstructions of the augmented reality system 400 by the processor 432configures the eyewear device 100 to cooperate with the other electronicdevice 402 and/or the mobile device 401. The system 400 may utilize thememory 434 of the eyewear device 100 and/or the memory elements 540A,540B, 540C of the mobile device 401 (FIG. 5 ) and/or the memory 630 ofthe other electronic device 402 (FIG. 6 ). Also, the system 400 mayutilize the processor elements 432, 422 of the eyewear device 100 and/orthe central processing unit (CPU) 540 of the mobile device 401 (FIG. 5 )and/or the microprocessor 656 of the other electronic device 402. Inaddition, the system 400 may further utilize the memory and processor ofthe server system 498. In this aspect, the memory and processingfunctions of the augmented reality system 400 can be shared ordistributed across the eyewear device 100, the mobile device 401, theother electronic device 402, and/or the server system 498.

In some examples, a portion of the memory 434 is used to store an objectdatabase 480 (see FIG. 4B) while another portion of the memory 434 hasprogramming stored therein, which when executed by the processor 432provides an object identifier 482 (see FIG. 4B). The flowchart shown inFIG. 4B illustrates such an example.

In some examples, the object database 480 is initially stored in amemory of the server system 498 and the memory 434 has programmingstored in, which when executed by the processor 432 causes the eyeweardevice to access the server system 498, retrieve all or a portion of theobject database 480 from the server system 498 and store the retrievedobject database 480 in the memory 434.

FIG. 5 is a high-level functional block diagram of an example mobiledevice 401. Mobile device 401 includes a flash memory 540A that storesprogramming to be executed by the CPU 530 to perform all or a subset ofthe functions described herein.

The mobile device 401 may include a camera 570 that comprises at leasttwo visible-light cameras (first and second visible-light cameras withoverlapping fields of view) or at least one visible-light camera and adepth sensor with substantially overlapping fields of view. Flash memory540A may further include multiple images or video, which are generatedvia the camera 570.

As shown, the mobile device 401 includes an image display 580, a mobiledisplay driver 582 to control the image display 580, and a controller584. In the example of FIG. 5 , the image display 580 includes a userinput layer 591 (e.g., a touchscreen) that is layered on top of orotherwise integrated into the screen used by the image display 580.

Examples of touchscreen-type mobile devices that may be used include(but are not limited to) a smart phone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or other portable device.The structure and operation of the touchscreen-type devices are providedby way of example and the subject technology as described herein is notintended to be limited thereto. For purposes of this discussion, FIG. 5therefore provides a block diagram illustration of the example mobiledevice 401 with a user interface that includes a touchscreen input layer591 for receiving input (by touch, multi-touch, or gesture, and thelike, by hand, stylus or other tool) and an image display 580 fordisplaying content.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the mobile device 401 includes at least one digitaltransceiver (XCVR) 510, shown as WWAN XCVRs, for digital wirelesscommunications via a wide-area wireless mobile communication network.The mobile device 401 also includes additional digital or analogtransceivers, such as short-range transceivers (XCVRs) 520 forshort-range network communication, such as via NFC, VLC, DECT, ZigBee,Bluetooth™ or WiFi. For example, short range XCVRs 520 may take the formof any available two-way wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiverof a type that is compatible with one or more standard protocols ofcommunication implemented in wireless local area networks, such as oneof the Wi-Fi standards under IEEE 802.11.

To generate location coordinates for positioning of the mobile device401, the mobile device 401 can include image-based location systems anda global positioning system (GPS) receiver. Alternatively, oradditionally, the mobile device 401 can utilize either or both the shortrange XCVRs 520 and WWAN XCVRs 510 for generating location coordinatesfor positioning. For example, cellular network, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth™based positioning systems can generate very accurate locationcoordinates, particularly when used in combination. Such locationcoordinates can be transmitted to the eyewear device over one or morenetwork connections via XCVRs 510, 520.

The transceivers 510, 520 (i.e., the network communication interface)conforms to one or more of the various digital wireless communicationstandards utilized by modern mobile networks. Examples of WWANtransceivers 510 include (but are not limited to) transceiversconfigured to operate in accordance with Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA) and 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) networktechnologies including, for example and without limitation, 3GPP type 2(or 3GPP2) and LTE, at times referred to as “4G.” For example, thetransceivers 510, 520 provide two-way wireless communication ofinformation including digitized audio signals, still image and videosignals, web page information for display as well as web-related inputs,and various types of mobile message communications to/from the mobiledevice 401.

The mobile device 401 further includes a microprocessor that functionsas a central processing unit (CPU); shown as CPU 530 in FIG. 5 . Aprocessor is a circuit having elements structured and arranged toperform one or more processing functions, typically various dataprocessing functions. Although discrete logic components could be used,the examples utilize components forming a programmable CPU. Amicroprocessor for example includes one or more integrated circuit (IC)chips incorporating the electronic elements to perform the functions ofthe CPU. The CPU 530, for example, may be based on any known oravailable microprocessor architecture, such as a Reduced Instruction SetComputing (RISC) using an ARM architecture, as commonly used today inmobile devices and other portable electronic devices. Of course, otherarrangements of processor circuitry may be used to form the CPU 530 orprocessor hardware in smartphone, laptop computer, and tablet.

The CPU 530 serves as a programmable host controller for the mobiledevice 401 by configuring the mobile device 401 to perform variousoperations, for example, in accordance with instructions or programmingexecutable by CPU 530. For example, such operations may include variousgeneral operations of the mobile device, as well as operations relatedto the programming for applications on the mobile device. Although aprocessor may be configured by use of hardwired logic, typicalprocessors in mobile devices are general processing circuits configuredby execution of programming.

The mobile device 401 includes a memory or storage system, for storingprogramming and data. In the example, the memory system may include aflash memory 540A, a random-access memory (RAM) 540B, and other memorycomponents 540C, as needed. The RAM 540B serves as short-term storagefor instructions and data being handled by the CPU 530, e.g., as aworking data processing memory. The flash memory 540A typically provideslonger-term storage.

Hence, in the example of mobile device 401, the flash memory 540A isused to store programming or instructions for execution by the CPU 530.Depending on the type of device, the mobile device 401 stores and runs amobile operating system through which specific applications areexecuted. Examples of mobile operating systems include Google Android,Apple iOS (for iPhone or iPad devices), Windows Mobile, Amazon Fire OS,RIM BlackBerry OS, or the like.

The processor 432 within the eyewear device 100 may construct a map ofthe environment surrounding the eyewear device 100, determine a locationof the eyewear device within the mapped environment, and determine arelative position of the eyewear device to one or more objects in themapped environment. The processor 432 may construct the map anddetermine location and position information using a simultaneouslocalization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm applied to data received fromone or more sensors. Suitable algorithms including particle filter,Kalman filters, extended Kalman filter, and covariance intersectionmethods. Algorithms that apply machine learning in SLAM are also withinthe scope of these teachings. Additionally, the processor 432 mayidentify an object location (associated with a location, a physicalobject, or a virtual object) and guide the user of the eyewear device100 toward the object location using audio signal presented by speakersof the eyewear device 100.

Sensor data includes images received from one or both of the cameras114A-B, distance received from a laser range finder, positioninformation received from a GPS unit, or a combination of two or more ofsuch sensor or other sensor providing data useful in determiningpositional information.

FIG. 6A depicts an example environment 600 from a rear perspective forimplementing natural feature tracking (NFT) and SLAM processing. A user602 of the eyewear device 100 is present in the environment 600 (whichis a room in FIG. 6 ). The processor 432 of the eyewear device 100determines its position with respect to one or more objects 604 withinthe environment 600 using captured images, constructs a map of theenvironment 600 using a coordinate system (x, y, z) for the environment600, and determines its position within the coordinate system.Additionally, the processor 432 determines a head pose (position, roll,pitch, and yaw) of the eyewear device 100 within the environment byusing two or more location points (e.g., three location points 606 a,606 b, and 606 c) on one or more objects 604 or by using one or morelocation points 606 on two or more objects 604. The processor 432 of theeyewear device 100 may position virtual objects (e.g., butterfly 608)within the environment for augmented reality viewing via image displays180.

FIG. 6B depicts the example environment 600 from a top perspective. Asshown in the top perspective, the physical safe 604 c is to the frontright side of the user wearing the eyewear device 100 and the virtualbutterfly 608 is to the rear right side of the user. Both objects 604c/608 are outside the field of view/display area of the eyewear device100 when facing substantially along the x-axis. As described below, theeyewear device 100 emits audio signals via the speakers 191 to guide theuser 602 to an object location, such as the location of the virtualbutterfly 608.

FIG. 7A shows flow chart 700 depicting an example method forimplementing an immersive augmented reality experience using an eyeweardevice with spatial audio. Although the steps are described withreference to the eyewear device 100, as described herein, otherimplementations of the steps described, for other types of devices, willbe understood by one of skill in the art from the description herein.Additionally, it is contemplated that one or more of the steps shown inFIG. 7A, and described herein, may be omitted, performed simultaneouslyand/or in a series, performed in an order other than illustrated anddescribed, and/or performed in conjunction with additional steps.

In the example method depicted in flow chart 700, the eyewear devicecaptures image information for an environment surrounding the device andidentifies an object location within the same environment. The eyeweardevice associates a virtual object with the identified object location.The eyewear device monitors the position of the device with respect tothe virtual object and presents audio signals to alert the user that theidentified virtual object is in the environment.

At block 702, the eyewear device 100 captures images of the environment600 surrounding the eyewear device 100 using at least one sensor, forexample visible light camera(s) 114. The processor 432 may continuouslyreceive images from the visible light camera(s) 114 and store thoseimages in memory 434 for processing. Additionally, the eyewear devicemay capture information from other sensors, e.g., location informationfrom a GPS sensor and/or distance information from a laser distancesensor.

At block 704, the processor 432 of the eyewear device 100 identifies thelocation of one or more objects 604 within the environment 600 usingcaptured images. The processor 432 may compare object image data fromthe captured images stored in memory 434 to object image data of knownobjects in the object database 480 (FIG. 4B) to identify a match usingthe object identifier 482 (FIG. 4B), e.g., implementing a conventionalobject recognition algorithm or a neural network trained to identifyobjects. In one example, the processor 432 is programmed to identify apredefined particular object (e.g., a particular picture 604 a hangingin a known location on a wall, a window 604 b in another wall, and/or aheavy object such as a safe 604 c positioned on the floor). Other sensordata, such as GPS data, may be used to narrow down the number of knownobjects for use in the comparison (e.g., only images associated with aroom identified through GPS coordinates). In another example, theprocessor 432 is programmed to identify predefined general objects (suchas one or more trees within a park). The eyewear device 100 determinesits position with respect to the object(s) (i.e., location andoptionally orientation). The eyewear device 100 may determine itsposition with respect to the objects by comparing and processingdistances between two or more points in the captured images (e.g.,between two or more location points on one objects 604 or between alocation point 606 on each of two objects 604) to known distancesbetween corresponding points in the identified objects. Distancesbetween the points of the captured images that are greater than thepoints of the identified objects indicate the eyewear device 100 iscloser to the identified object than the imager that captured the imageincluding the identified object. On the other hand, distances betweenthe points of the captured images that are less than the points of theidentified objects indicate the eyewear device 100 is further from theidentified object than the imager that captured the image including theidentified object. By processing the relative distances, the processor432 is able to determine the position (i.e., location and orientation)within respect to the objects(s). Alternatively, or additionally, othersensor information, such as laser distance sensor information, may beused to determine position with respect to the object(s). For location,the eyewear device 100 constructs a map of an environment 600surrounding the eyewear device 100 and determines its location withinthe environment. In one example, where the identified object (block 704)has a predefined coordinate system (x, y, z), the processor 432 of theeyewear device 100 constructs the map using that predefined coordinatesystem and periodically determines its location within that coordinatesystem with respect to the identified objects. In another example, theeyewear device constructs a map using images of permanent orsemi-permanent objects 604 within an environment (e.g., a tree or a parkbench within a park). In accordance with this example, the eyeweardevice 100 may define the coordinate system (x′, y′, z′) used for theenvironment. The eyewear device 100 may periodically determine itslocation through NFT and SLAM processing. Additionally, oralternatively, other techniques may be used to determine location suchas GPS signals receive by a GPS receiver. For orientation, the eyeweardevice 100 determines a head pose (roll, pitch, and yaw) of the eyeweardevice 100 within the environment, e.g., also through SLAM processing.The processor 432 may determine head pose by using two or more locationpoints (e.g., three location points 606 a, 606 b, and 606 c) on one ormore objects 604 or by using one or more location points 606 on two ormore objects 604. Using conventional image processing algorithms, theprocessor 432 determines roll, pitch, and yaw by comparing the angle andlength of lines extending between the location points for the for thecaptured images and the known images. The eyewear device 100 mayperiodically determine its orientation through NFT and SLAM processing.Additionally, or alternatively, other technique may be used to determineorientation such as through signals receive from IMU 472.

At block 706, associate a virtual object with the object location anddetermine when the object location is within the device's field ofview/display area. The processor 432 may determine when the objectlocation is within the field of view of the eyewear device 100 bycomparing the angular position to a range associated with the device'sfield of view, e.g., −15 degrees to +15 degrees. When the objectlocation is within the field of view of the eyewear device 100, theprocessor 432 presents an image overlay including the virtual object viaa display of the eyewear device 100 using the image processor 412 andthe image display driver 442 of the eyewear device 100. The processordevelops and presents the visual images via the image displaysresponsive to the location of the eyewear device 100 within theenvironment 600. As the eyewear device 100 moves through theenvironment, the processor 432 updates the image overlay on the opticalassemblies 180 such that the virtual object appears at the objectlocation while the object location is within the field of view. When theobject location moves out of the field of view, the virtual object is nolonger presented. The presented virtual object has a virtual position inthree-dimensional space, which the virtual object process system 484tracks in relation to the location of the identified object. In oneexample, the virtual position in three-dimensional space issubstantially perceived by the user to be associated with an x-y planeappearing to lie on a surface (e.g., the ground, floor, countertop,etc.). In one example, the visual images include an image of a hand 1002for manipulating features of a GUI (FIG. 9 ) or selecting a virtualobject such as a virtual butterfly 1004 (FIG. 10 ).

At block 708, processor 432 monitors the position of the eyewear devicewith respect to the location of the virtual object in response to imageinformation captured by at least one sensor. The device determines acurrent position (direction and optionally distance) of a virtual objectwith respect to the head of the user where the virtual object has anassociated audio track. The current position includes a direction withrespect to the head of the user. The current position may additionallyinclude a distance with respect to the head of the user. In one example,the direction and distance are represented by a vector the virtualobject processing system 484 calculates that intersects a positionassociated with the head of the user and the virtual position of thevirtual object tracked by the virtual object processing system 484.

The processor 432 may monitor the orientation of the eyewear device 100as described above for determining orientation as a part of determiningposition and compare the current orientation to the virtual objectlocation using a geometric algorithm to obtain an angular position. Theangular position represents a relative position of the eyewear device100 to the object location and is associated with a directional audiozone, e.g., the object location is to the right of the eyewear device(e.g., angular position of 67.5 degree to 112.5 degrees; directionalaudio zone 1), to the right and back of the eyewear device 100 (e.g.,angular position of 112.5 degrees to 167.5 degrees; directional audiozone 2), or behind the eyewear device 100 (e.g., angular position of167.5 degrees to 102.5 degrees; directional audio zone 3). The processor432 stores the directional audio zones for the angular ranges in memory434, e.g., in a lookup table.

In some examples, eyewear device 100 is operatively connected, forexample, by wireless connection 425, 437 via mobile device 401 andnetwork 495, to server system 498, and the monitored position or thevirtual position, the virtual object, or a combination thereof, arestored in another memory in the server system for retrieval by one ormore other users. In another example, the location of the virtual objectmay be shared via wireless connection 425, 437 of eyewear device 100,such as via short-range transceivers (Bluetooth™ or Bluetooth Low-Energy(BLE)) or wireless wide, local, or wide-area network transceivers (e.g.,cellular or WiFi) between eyewear devices 100 worn by other users.

At block 710, the eyewear device 100 presents audio signals in responseto its position in the environment to alert the user that the identifiedvirtual object is in the environment. The processor 432 presents theaudio signals selectively through speakers 191 of the eyewear device 100based on the current orientation of the eyewear device 100 with respectto the object location. In one example, the processor 432 determines acurrent orientation of the eyewear device 100. The current orientationmay be represented as an angular position. The processor 432 selects oneof the directional audio zones, e.g., by comparing the angular positionto angular ranges associated with each of the directional audio zonesand selecting the directional audio zone associated with a rangecontaining the angular position. For example, if the angular position is90 degrees (indicating the object location is to the right of theeyewear device 100), the processor 432 will select audio zone 1. Theprocessor 432 presents the audio signal by selectively presenting theaudio signal via the speakers 191 responsive to the orientation. Forexample, if directional audio zone 1 is selected due to an angularposition of 90 degrees, the processor 432 emits the audio signal viaboth speakers on the right side of the eyewear device 100.

Additionally, the processor 432 or audio processor 413 may adjust thevolume of the audio signal responsive to the relative location betweenthe current location of the eyewear device 100 and the virtual objectlocation. For example, if the virtual object location is relatively faraway, e.g., 20 feet, the volume may be reduced such that it is very lowor inaudible. As the eyewear device 100 moves closer to the virtualobject location, the processor 432 increases the volume, therebyproviding an indication to the user that they are getting closer to thevirtual object location. As the eyewear device 100 moves away from thevirtual object location, the processor 432 decreases the volume, therebyproviding an indication to the user that they are moving away from thevirtual object location. In one example, the decibel level or volume ofthe audio signals increases exponentially as the monitored position ofthe eyewear device approaches the virtual object. In another example,the decibel level of the audio signals decreases logarithmically as themonitored position of the eyewear device moves away from the virtualobject.

The steps described above with reference to blocks 702-710 are repeatedto update the position of the eyewear device 100 and adjust thepresentation of the audio signal and the virtual object as the eyeweardevice 100 moves through the environment 600 to guide the user to thevirtual object location.

FIG. 7B is a flow diagram depicting a method 720 for implementingaugmented reality applications described herein on a wearable device(e.g., an eyewear device).

At block 722, processor 432 randomly selects from at least two virtualobjects, a first object type and second object type, from objectdatabase 480 in memory 434. The object types may be various forms, andin some examples the first and second object types are dichotomous, forexample, the first object type is a “good” character (e.g., butterfly,spirit, etc.) and the second object type is an “bad” character (e.g.,owl, wolf, raven, etc.). Other object types may be used such money,gemstones, and the like. First and second object types may havedifferent associated audio tracks.

At block 724, the first object type is associated with a positive scoreand the second object type is associate with a negative score. Forexample, a butterfly may be selected for the first object type and anowl may be selected for the second object type, each type randomlyselected from object database 480, and the butterfly is associated witha positive score and the owl is associated with a negative score. Pointsmay be awarded as butterflies are acquired and lost with interactionwith the owls.

At block 726, the first object type is associated with a first set ofanimation states and the second object type is associated with a secondset of animation states. The states of an animation may be altered orcontrolled by the monitored position of the device. For example, as thedevice moves closer to the virtual object (i.e., the distance betweenthe device and the location of the virtual object because shorter), theanimation state may change. In some examples the change may relate tothe frequency of movement, whether the overall frame of the object moves(e.g., jumps, swivels, etc.), or changes its appearance. The animationstate may have a theme, for example, nature, space, urban, and fantasy.In an example where the animation state has a nature theme, itsappearance may change to display a whirlwind effect or breeze, etc. Insome examples each theme has associated audio tracks to provide ambientaudio.

At block 728, presenting the first set of animation states when thefirst object type is selected and present the second set of animationstates when the second object type is selected. Processor 432 retrievesfirst and second animation states from an animation engine 490 in memory434 and displays the respective virtual object with its respectiveanimation state upon selection and depending on the position of theeyewear device with respect to the virtual object in response to thecaptured image information (block 708).

At block 730, the processor 432 is programmed to retrieve positive andnegative scores stored in memory (block 724) and calculate and maintaina tally, e.g., in memory responsive to the wearer's movement within theenvironment.

At block, 732, the processor 432 continues monitoring the position ofthe eyewear device (block 708) and detects when the eyewear device iswithin a predefined threshold of the object location. Processor 432monitors the current position (e.g., direction and distance) of theeyewear device 100 with respect to a virtual object. The eyewear devicedetermines a directional velocity of the virtual object with respect tothe head of the user. The system determines the directional velocity bymonitoring movement of the current position of the virtual object overtime. In one example, the virtual object processing system 484periodically (e.g., every 10 ms) calculates the current position of thevirtual object. The virtual object processing system 484 then calculatesa directional component between a prior (e.g., an immediately prior)position of the virtual object and a current position where thedirectional component is along a line extending between the originassociated with the head of the user and a position adjacent the virtualobject to obtain a relative velocity of the object with respect to theuser.

At block 734, the eyewear device 100 adjusts the tally (block 730). Inone example, the eyewear device 100 increases the tally by the positivescore when the virtual object has the first object type if the thresholdvalue in block 732 is met and, optionally, decreases the tally by thenegative score when the virtual object has the second object type. Inanother example, the eyewear device 100 monitors a hand gesture of thewearer identified in captured images (e.g., a pointing finger) and theimage processor 412 determines the position of the gesture with respectto the virtual object. In accordance with this example, the eyeweardevice 100 increases the tally by the positive score when the gesture ison or adjacent the virtual object of the first object type and,optionally, decreases the tally by the negative score when the gestureis on or adjacent the virtual object of the first object type.

In another example, two users may compete with each other to scorepoints in environment 600 by performing the steps depicted in flowcharts 700 and 720, and optionally 740 shown in FIGS. 7A-7C. Eyeweardevice 100 is operatively connected, for example, by wireless connection425, 437 via mobile device 401 and network 495, to server system 498,and the monitored position or the virtual position, the virtual object,or a combination thereof, are stored in another memory in the serversystem for retrieval by one or more other users. In another example, thelocation of the virtual object may be shared via wireless connection425, 437 of eyewear device 100, such as via short-range transceivers(Bluetooth™ or Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE)) or wireless wide, local, orwide-area network transceivers (e.g., cellular or WiFi) between eyeweardevices 100 worn by other users.

FIG. 7C is a flow chart 740 depicting another example of a method forimplementing augmented reality applications described herein on awearable device (e.g., an eyewear device). At block 742, eyewear device100 determines its current orientation with respect to the objectlocation, selects one of the at least three directional audio zones inresponse to the current orientation 744, and presents a first audiosignal in the selected directional audio zone 746.

FIG. 7D is a flow chart 750 depicting another example of a method forimplementing augmented reality applications described herein on awearable device (e.g., an eyewear device). At block 752, the eyeweardevice 100 determines when the object location is within the field ofview, and at block 754, the eyewear device presents on the display thevirtual object in the object location within the field of view.

FIG. 7E is a flow chart 760 depicting another example of a method forimplementing augmented reality applications described herein on awearable device (e.g., an eyewear device). At block 762, the eyeweardevice 100 generates a random location for the position of the virtualobject within the environment outside the field of view. The locationmay be a random location selected from locations within the environmentthat are outside the field of view of the eyewear device 100 and/or arehidden behind or in physical objects, in which case the processor 432may apply a pseudo random number generation algorithm to locationsmeeting predefined criteria to identify the object location. In someexamples, the predefined criteria include ensuring the virtual objectappears to be at rest on a surface, for example, the ground, countertop,etc. At block 764, the eyewear device 100 identifies the random locationas the object location.

FIG. 7F is a flow chart 770 depicting another example of a method forimplementing augmented reality applications described herein on awearable device. At block 772, the eyewear device 100 determines achange in position of the eyewear device in relation to the virtualobject in which the virtual object has a first animation state. At block774, the eyewear device 100 generates a second animation state for thevirtual object in response to the change in position.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 8A, 8B, and 8C are images for use in describing oneexample. In the example shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, 8A, 8B, and 8C, a user602 wearing an eyewear device 100 enters an environment (e.g., a room inthe illustrated example). The eyewear device 100 captures images withinthe environment. The eyewear device 100 identifies objects/featureswithin the images such as a picture 604 a and a window 604 b. Using NFTand SLAM processing, the eyewear device 100 determines its position(location/orientation) within the environment with respect to theobject/features. The eyewear device 100 additionally determines anobject location, e.g., a location within the environment that may beassociated with a virtual object such as a virtual butterfly 608. Usingthe techniques described herein eyewear device 100 guides the user tothe virtual object location by selectively emitting audio signals fromspeakers 191 a-d positioned on the eyewear device 100 to generatedirectional audio zones.

In FIG. 8B, the virtual object location is directly to the right of theeyewear device 100. The eyewear device 100 determines the angularposition of the eyewear device 100 with respect to the virtual objectlocation and selects a directional audio zone associated with speakers191 b and 191 d causing speakers 191 b and 191 d to emit audio signals800 a and 800 b, respectively. The user interprets audio signals 800 aand 800 b as coming from the right and is thereby guided toward thevirtual butterfly 608 on the right.

In FIG. 8C, the virtual object location is to the rear and left of theeyewear device 100. The eyewear device 100 determines the angularposition of the eyewear device 100 with respect to the virtual objectlocation and selects a directional audio zone associated with speaker191 c causing speakers 191 c to emit audio signal 800 c. The userinterprets audio signal 800 c as coming from the rear and left and isthereby guided toward the virtual butterfly 608 to the rear and left.Additionally, because the virtual object location in FIG. 8C is closerto the eyewear device 100 than in FIG. 8B, the volume of audio signal800 c may be louder to indicate that the eyewear device 100 is nowcloser to the virtual object location. When the eyewear device 100 iswithin a predefined distance of the virtual butterfly 608 (or a userhand gesture captured by the eyewear device 100 is determined to be onor adjacent the virtual butterfly 608), the eyewear device increases atally (or decreases the tally if the virtual object is associated with anegative count value).

FIG. 9 is an example graphical user interface (GUI) 950 for testingaudio output settings relating to a selected position of a virtualobject with respect to the head 902 of the user. Other GUIs (not shown)may be used to control, in some examples, aspects of the themes,animation states, audio settings, etc. relating to a virtual object.

For the GUI depicted in FIG. 9 , a clock 952 is present around the head902 of the user to represent various sectors/zones surrounding the head902. A circular control 954 and a linear control 960 are present toselect desired audio zones. Similar controls may be used to controlother aspects relating to a virtual object.

The circular control 954 is present around the clock 952. The circularcontrol includes a circular track 958 and a selector 956 positionedwithin the track 958 for selecting a sound and direction of the soundsuch as desired area for identifying an object that may be used toassociate a virtual object. The illustrated selector 956 includes anindicator representing angular information associated with the desireddirection from which the sound should be perceived as coming from (90degrees in the illustrated example representing that the sound shouldappear as if it is coming from the right side of the user). A user movesthe selector 956 around the circular track 958 to change the directionselection.

The linear control 960 includes a linear track 964. A selector 962 ispositioned within the track 964 for selecting a height from which asound should be perceived as coming from (e.g., ear level, below earlevel, or above ear level. A user moves the selector 962 along the track964 to change the perceived level.

The GUI 950 additionally includes an audio selection button 966 forselecting an audio track for a desired theme, a play button 968 forplaying the selected audio track, a pause button 970 for pausing theaudio track, and a reset button 972 for resetting the indicators 956/962to their default locations.

GUIs may be presented on the display 180 of the eyewear device 100, thedisplay 580 of the mobile device 401 or the display for a remotecomputer such as a server system 498. In one example, a user maymanipulate the selectors 956/962 and actuate the buttons 966/968/970/972using a user input device 491 of the eyewear device 100, using userinput layer 591 of the mobile device, or a user input of another device.

In another example, a user may manipulate the selectors 956/962 andactuate the buttons 966/968/970/972 through hand gestures captured bythe cameras 114 of the eyewear device. In accordance with this example,the processor 432 of an eyewear device 100 is configured to captureframes of video data with a camera 114A, 114B. Objects in the images arecompared to the hand gesture library 480 to identify predefined handgestures (e.g., a pointing index finger) associated with an action. Whena hand gesture is identified, its position is determined with respect tothe selectors 956/962 and actuate the buttons 966/968/970/972. Amodification of the hand gesture (e.g., a tapping motion when the tip ofthe index finger is near a button or a swiping motion when the tip ofthe index finger is near a selector) results in an actuation of thebuttons/selector.

The process of determining whether a detected hand shape matches apredefined gesture, in some implementations, involves comparing thepixel-level data about the hand shape in one or more captured frames ofvideo data to the collection of hand gestures stored in the hand gesturelibrary 480. The detected hand shape data may include three-dimensionalcoordinates for the wrist, up to fifteen interphalangeal joints, up fivefingertips, and other skeletal or soft-tissue landmarks found in acaptured frame. These data are compared to hand gesture data stored inthe hand gesture library 480 until the best match is found. In someexamples, the process includes calculating the sum of the geodesicdistances between the detected hand shape fingertip coordinates and aset of fingertip coordinates for each hand gesture stored in the library480. A sum that is within a configurable threshold accuracy valuerepresents a match.

In another example implementation, the process of determining whether adetected hand shape matches a predefined gesture, involves using amachine-learning algorithm to compare the pixel-level data about thehand shape in one or more captured frames of video data to a collectionof images that include hand gestures.

Machine learning refers to an algorithm that improves incrementallythrough experience. By processing a large number of different inputdatasets, a machine-learning algorithm can develop improvedgeneralizations about particular datasets, and then use thosegeneralizations to produce an accurate output or solution whenprocessing a new dataset. Broadly speaking, a machine-learning algorithmincludes one or more parameters that will adjust or change in responseto new experiences, thereby improving the algorithm incrementally; aprocess similar to learning.

In the context of computer vision, mathematical models attempt toemulate the tasks accomplished by the human visual system, with the goalof using computers to extract information from an image and achieve anaccurate understanding of the contents of the image. Computer visionalgorithms have been developed for a variety of fields, includingartificial intelligence and autonomous navigation, to extract andanalyze data in digital images and video.

Deep learning refers to a class of machine-learning methods that arebased on or modeled after artificial neural networks. An artificialneural network is a computing system made up of a number of simple,highly interconnected processing elements (nodes), which processinformation by their dynamic state response to external inputs. A largeartificial neural network might have hundreds or thousands of nodes.

A convolutional neural network (CNN) is a type of neural network that isfrequently applied to analyzing visual images, including digitalphotographs and video. The connectivity pattern between nodes in a CNNis typically modeled after the organization of the human visual cortex,which includes individual neurons arranged to respond to overlappingregions in a visual field. A neural network that is suitable for use inthe determining process described herein is based on one of thefollowing architectures: VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, Inception V3, Xception,or other CNN-compatible architectures.

In the machine-learning example, the processor 432 determines whether adetected hand shape substantially matches a predefined gesture using amachine-trained algorithm referred to as a hand feature model. Theprocessor 432 is configured to access the hand feature model, trainedthrough machine learning, and applies the hand feature model to identifyand locate features of the hand shape in one or more frames of the videodata.

In one example implementation, the trained hand feature model receives aframe of video data which contains a detected hand shape and abstractsthe image in the frame into layers for analysis. Data in each layer iscompared to hand gesture data stored in the hand gesture library 480,layer by layer, based on the trained hand feature model, until a goodmatch is identified.

In one example, the layer-by-layer image analysis is executed using aconvolutional neural network. In a first convolution layer, the CNNidentifies learned features (e.g., hand landmarks, sets of jointcoordinates, and the like). In a second convolution layer, the image istransformed into a plurality of images, in which the learned featuresare each accentuated in a respective sub-image. In a pooling layer, thesizes and resolution of the images and sub-images are reduced in orderisolation portions of each image that include a possible feature ofinterest (e.g., a possible palm shape, a possible finger joint). Thevalues and comparisons of images from the non-output layers are used toclassify the image in the frame. Classification, as used herein, refersto the process of using a trained model to classify an image accordingto the detected hand shape. For example, an image may be classified as“pointer gesture present” if the detected hand shape matches the pointergesture from the library 480.

In some example implementations, the processor 432, in response todetecting a pointing gesture, presents on the display 180A-B anindicator 1002 (see FIG. 10 ). The indicator 1002 informs the wearerthat a predefined gesture has been detected. The indicator 1002 in oneexample is an object, such as the pointing finger shown in FIG. 10 . Theindicator 1002 may include one or more visible, audible, tactile, andother elements to inform or alert the wearer that a pointer gesture hasbeen detected. A user may move the indicator 1002 by moving the detectedhand gesture within the field of view of the eyewear device 100.

The functionality described herein for the eyewear device 100, themobile device 401, the remote device 402, and the server system 498 canbe embodied in one or more computer software applications or sets ofprogramming instructions, as described herein. According to someexamples, “function,” “functions,” “application,” “applications,”“instruction,” “instructions,” or “programming” are program(s) thatexecute functions defined in the programs. Various programming languagescan be employed to produce one or more of the applications, structuredin a variety of manners, such as object-oriented programming languages(e.g., Objective-C, Java, or C++) or procedural programming languages(e.g., C or assembly language). In a specific example, a third-partyapplication (e.g., an application developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of theparticular platform) may include mobile software running on a mobileoperating system such as IOS™ ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or anothermobile operating systems. In this example, the third-party applicationcan invoke API calls provided by the operating system to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

Hence, a machine-readable medium may take many forms of tangible storagemedium. Non-volatile storage media include, for example, optical ormagnetic disks, such as any of the storage devices in any computerdevices or the like, such as may be used to implement the client device,media gateway, transcoder, etc. shown in the drawings. Volatile storagemedia include dynamic memory, such as main memory of such a computerplatform. Tangible transmission media include coaxial cables; copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a bus within acomputer system. Carrier-wave transmission media may take the form ofelectric or electromagnetic signals, or acoustic or light waves such asthose generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) datacommunications. Common forms of computer-readable media thereforeinclude for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetictape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD-ROM, any otheroptical medium, punch cards paper tape, any other physical storagemedium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave transporting data orinstructions, cables or links transporting such a carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer may read programming code and/ordata. Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved incarrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to aprocessor for execution.

Except as stated immediately above, nothing that has been stated orillustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedicationof any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, orequivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is or is not recitedin the claims.

It will be understood that the terms and expressions used herein havethe ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions withrespect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and studyexcept where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.Relational terms such as first and second and the like may be usedsolely to distinguish one entity or action from another withoutnecessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or orderbetween such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“includes,” “including,” or any other variation thereof, are intended tocover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article,or apparatus that comprises or includes a list of elements or steps doesnot include only those elements or steps but may include other elementsor steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “a” or “an” does not,without further constraints, preclude the existence of additionalidentical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus thatcomprises the element.

Unless otherwise stated, any and all measurements, values, ratings,positions, magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are setforth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, areapproximate, not exact. Such amounts are intended to have a reasonablerange that is consistent with the functions to which they relate andwith what is customary in the art to which they pertain. For example,unless expressly stated otherwise, a parameter value or the like mayvary by as much as plus or minus ten percent from the stated amount orrange.

In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in various examples for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed examplesrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, the subject matter to be protected liesin less than all features of any single disclosed example. Thus, thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subjectmatter.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be the bestmode and other examples, it is understood that various modifications maybe made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may beimplemented in various forms and examples, and that they may be appliedin numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein.It is intended by the following claims to claim any and allmodifications and variations that fall within the true scope of thepresent concepts.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An eyewear device comprising: a speakersystem; at least one image sensor having a field of view; a displayhaving a viewing area corresponding to the field of view; a supportstructure configured to be head-mounted on a user, the support structuresupporting the speaker system and the at least one image sensor; and aprocessor, a memory, and programming in said memory, wherein executionof said programming by said processor configures the eyewear device to:capture, with the at least one image sensor, image information of anenvironment surrounding the eyewear device; identify an object locationwithin the environment; associate a virtual object with the identifiedobject location; monitor position of the eyewear device with respect tothe virtual object responsive to the captured image information;determine when the object location is within the viewing area of thedisplay; present, on the display, video signals including the virtualobject in the object location responsive to the monitored position whenthe identified object location is determined to be within the viewingarea; randomly select an object type for the virtual object from atleast a first object type and second object type, the first object typeassociated with a first set of animation states and the second objecttype associated with a second set of animation states; wherein topresent the virtual object the eyewear device is configured to presentthe first set of animation states when the first object type is selectedand to present the second set of animation states when the second objecttype is selected; wherein the first object type is associated with apositive score and the second object type is associated with a negativescore and wherein execution of the programming by said processor furtherconfigures the eyewear device to: maintain a tally for the user; detectwhen the eyewear device is within a predefined threshold of the objectlocation; and increase the tally by the positive score when the virtualobject has the first object type and decrease the tally by the negativescore when the virtual object has the second object type; and presentaudio signals, with the speaker system, responsive to the monitoredposition to alert the user that the identified object is in theenvironment.
 2. The eyewear device of claim 1, wherein the speakersystem includes at least two speakers that produce at least threedirectional audio zones and wherein to present the audio signals theeyewear is configured to: determine a current orientation of the eyeweardevice with respect to the object location; select one of the at leastthree directional audio zones responsive to the current orientation; andpresent a first audio signal with a first of the at least two speakersand a second audio signal with a second of the at least two speakersassociated with the virtual object, the first and second audio signalsresponsive to the selected directional audio zone.
 3. The eyewear deviceof claim 2, wherein the support structure of the eyewear devicecomprises: a frame having a first side and a second side; a first templeextending from a first side of the frame, the first temple having aproximal end adjacent the first side of the frame and a distal end; anda second temple extending from a second side of the frame, the secondtemple having a proximal end adjacent the second side of the frame and adistal end; wherein, when the support structure is positioned on thehead of the user, the first speaker of the at least two speakers ispositioned on the first temple such that it is adjacent a first ear ofthe user and the second speaker of the at least two speakers ispositioned on the second temple such that it is adjacent a second ear ofthe user.
 4. The eyewear device of claim 1, wherein to identify theobject location within the environment the eyewear device is configuredto: generate a random location within the environment; and identify therandom location as the object location.
 5. The eyewear device of claim1, further comprising: a display having a viewing area corresponding tothe field of view; wherein the virtual object has a first animationstate and a second animation state and wherein execution of saidprogramming by said processor configures the eyewear device to: display,on the display, the first animation state when the location of theeyewear device with respect to the virtual object is greater than afirst predefined distance; and transition from the first animation stateto a second animation state when the location of the eyewear device withrespect to the virtual object reaches the first predefined distance. 6.The eyewear device of claim 1, wherein execution of said programming bysaid processor configures the eyewear device to: increasing a decibellevel of the audio signals exponentially as the monitored position ofthe eyewear device approaches the virtual object.
 7. The eyewear deviceof claim 1, wherein said eyewear device further comprises a wirelesscommunication component, said eyewear device is operatively connected toa server system through a network, and said monitored position is storedin another memory in said server system for retrieval by another user.8. A method for use with an eyewear device configured to be head mountedon a user, the eyewear device comprising a speaker system, at least oneimage sensor having a field of view, a support structure configured tobe head-mounted on a user, a display having a viewing area correspondingto the field of view, a processor, and a memory, the method comprising:capturing, with the at least one image sensor, image information of anenvironment surrounding the eyewear device; identifying an objectlocation within the environment; associating a virtual object with theidentified object location; monitoring position of the eyewear devicewith respect to the virtual object responsive to the captured imageinformation; randomly selecting an object type for the virtual objectfrom at least a first object type and second object type, wherein thefirst object type is associated with a positive score and the secondobject type is associate with a negative score, and wherein the firstobject type associated with a first set of animation states and thesecond object type associated with a second set of animation states;presenting, on the display, the first set of animation states when thefirst object type is selected and presenting the second set of animationstates when the second object type is selected; maintaining a tally forthe user; detecting when the eyewear device is within a predefinedthreshold of the object location; and increasing the tally by thepositive score when the virtual object has the first object type anddecrease the tally by the negative score when the virtual object has thesecond object type; and presenting audio signals, with the speakersystem, responsive to the monitored position to alert the user that theidentified object is in the environment.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the step of providing audio signals further comprises the stepof: increasing a decibel level of the audio signals exponentially as themonitored position of the eyewear device approaches the virtual object.10. The method of claim 8, wherein said eyewear device further comprisesa wireless communication component, said eyewear device is operativelyconnected to a server system through a network, and said monitoredposition is stored in another memory in said server system for retrievalby another user.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the speaker systemincludes at least two speakers that produce at least three directionalaudio zones and wherein the presenting the audio signals comprises:determining a current orientation of the eyewear device with respect tothe object location; selecting one of the at least three directionalaudio zones responsive to the current orientation; and presenting afirst audio signal in the selected directional audio zone.
 12. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the eyewear device further comprises adisplay having a viewing area corresponding to the field of view andwherein the method further comprises: determining when the objectlocation is within the field of view; and presenting, on the display,the virtual object in the object location is within the field of view.13. The method of claim 12, wherein the identifying the object locationwithin the environment comprises: generating a random location withinthe environment outside the field of view; and identifying the randomlocation as the object location.
 14. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: determining a change in position of the eyewear device inrelation to the virtual object, wherein the virtual object has a firstanimation state; and generating a second animation state for the virtualobject responsive to the determined change in position.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code for usewith an eyewear device configured to be head mounted on a user, theeyewear device comprising a processor, a memory, at least one imagesensor having a field of view, a display having a viewing areacorresponding to the field of view, and a speaker system, the programcode, when executed, is operative to cause an electronic processor to:capture, with the at least one image sensor, image information of anenvironment surrounding the eyewear device; identify an object locationwithin the environment; associate a virtual object with the identifiedobject location; monitor position of the eyewear device with respect tothe virtual object responsive to the captured image information;randomly select an object type for the virtual object from at least afirst object type and second object type, wherein the first object typeis associated with a positive score and the second object type isassociate with a negative score, and wherein the first object typeassociated with a first set of animation states and the second objecttype associated with a second set of animation states; present, on thedisplay, the first set of animation states when the first object type isselected and presenting the second set of animation states when thesecond object type is selected; maintain a tally for the user; detectwhen the eyewear device is within a predefined threshold of the objectlocation; increase the tally by the positive score when the virtualobject has the first object type and decrease the tally by the negativescore when the virtual object has the second object type; and presentaudio signals, with the speaker system, responsive to the monitoredposition to alert the user that the identified object is in theenvironment.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim15, wherein the speaker system includes at least two speakers configuredto produce at least three directional audio zones, wherein the programcode to present audio signals includes program code operative to causethe electronic processor to: determine a current orientation of theeyewear device with respect to the object location; select one of the atleast three directional audio zones responsive to the currentorientation; and present a first audio signal with a first of the atleast two speakers and a second audio signal with a second of the atleast two speakers associated with the virtual object, the first andsecond audio signals responsive to the selected directional audio zone.